Half-Life 2

HL2 is technically a sequel, but really, you don't need to play the first one. Also, HL2 is my favorite game. I love it. However, that doesn't mean that its flawless. I like it so much because of the storyline and the gameplay. First comes the gameplay. Looking at the roots of HL2, its just a shooter. Point and pull the trigger, and watch the bad guys bleed. But the gameplay is much more complex than that. With the addition of the "gravity gun" the great physics of the game become apparent. Pick up a saw blade, shoot it at an enemy, and watch as their torso flys away and their legs stay rooted to the same spot. Pick up a metal stake and stick someone to a wall. It opens up much more possibility in the game. Also sporadiclly placed throughout the game are these puzzles which add a layer of fun and give you a break from putting bullets in baddies. And now time for the storyline. As I mentioned before, I think it's quite interesting. Long story short, an interdimensional race of cyborgs that are slowly conquering the dimensions set their eyes on yours. They set into motion a sequence of events, events that you have a part in, that opens a portal which they come through. They use human DNA and their technology to create cyborg humans, and enslave the dimensions occupants. You, in short, fight them. Its all very complex, but interesting. Because of the combination of great gameplay and a great story, I give HL2 a 10 out of 10. You must play this game.

Portal

Portal is a very interesting game. More a puzzle game than anything, it explores more interesting game types. Portal is about a test subject who remains unnamed and is forced to perform several tests of increasing difficulty. These challenges are solved through the use of a "portal" gun that creates a portal from one place to another, depending on where you shoot it. The portals make screwing around very fun. You can put one on the celing and the other right below it on the floor and then jump through space for infinity. Things like that make the game very fun. Also, the storyline is interesting. Throughout the game, an AI (artificial intelligence) named GLaDOS (Genetic Liform and Disk Operating System) speaks to you. She is a bit quirky to say the least. She has an obsession with cake for one. If you play the game, you will understand. All things considered, portal deserves a 9 out of 10.

Prince of Persia

Prince of persia is a parcour-ish platforming game in which you use your acrobatic skills to explore a decrepit kingdom under the influence of the god of darkness, Ariman. This game is a good game to pick up and play for a while, but it lacks many things. It becomes somewhat repetitive, the fights are always the same and so forth. The freerunning sequences become somewhat repetitive and kind of boring. The story is very unimaginitive. The scenery in the game is impressive though. There are lots of wide open spaces which are filled with artsy landscapes and buildings. Also, the game is very easy. You cannot die. No matter what you do, you can't die. However, this creates problems. If you start a long sequence of freerunning and then mess up, the game places you at the begining, creating intense frustration on your part. Still it's a fun game and deserves a playthrough, so I give it a 6.5 out of 10.

Crackdown

In light of my last rating, I decided to do an older, but similar, game. Crackdown is a lot like prototype as you have superpowers, but you don't shapeshift or murder everyone. You're supposed to be a super-cop who's really fast and agile and is supposed to eliminate all the leaders of gangs across "Pacific City", but other then that, there isn't much character development. Your a mute slave the the Talk-show voice that comes on intermittently and tells you what to put bullets in next. Story aside, crackdown is like crack. You lose yourself collecting agility orbs or killing every gang member you find. You complete dozens of car chases and mess around running people over. There is no lack of fun in crackdown. It does get repetivtive after a while, but it takes a long time. It gets a 8 out of 10.

Prototype

Prototype is a new game developed by Radical and published by Activision. Truth be told, I thought this game looked like a really good game. And for a while, it was. The problem is in the repetition and the repetition. The game throws the same things at you over and over and over. You are powerful enough to simply decimate everything in your path, so there is not much challenge. Once you unlock more powerful moves, you can just perform the same ones over and over and kill anything in your way. The storyline isn't very good, the graphics aren't over the top, and the combat gets old. Its cool to be all powerful and do things like skydiving without a parachute, but it doesn't make the game. I give it a 6 out of 10 because it has great poetential but fails to deliver.

Red Dead Redemption

Red Dead Redeption is technically another sequel, albeit for a very old game. Its a sequel to Red Dead Revolver, a game for the original Xbox, and was basically a linear shoot the bad guys type game. Red Dead Redemption is a sandbox free roaming game. I think its a great improvement. I'm a big fan of sandbox games because they let me do the things i can't do in real life. I like to think of RDR as a cross between Grand Theft Auto and Gun. You have free range of the entire game, and you can do anything you want, whether that be shooting random people or gambling or doing shots of whiskey in a saloon. The combat system is pretty good too. Shooting is fun and there are quite a few guns. Some downsides are in this game however. You barely have any health, three bullets and your dead. However any downside is drowned out by the huge amounts of great content. I give it a 9 out of 10.

Modern Warfare 2

yeah, It's another sequel. I like sequels. Usually I buy them because the first one was good, and the second is usually better. Same deal with Modern Warfare 2. Its simply another winner. Perhaps not a 10, but probaly a 8. Now, MWF2 is not about single player. Single player is a flashy "WOW-moment" storyline, basiclly used to introduce the controls. It's fun, and is quite well done. However, the real content is in the multiplayer. Call of Duty, the franchise Modern Warfare is part of, has always been known for it's multiplayer. While it is not the most balanced multiplayer I have ever played, it certaintly is quite fun. Killstreaks have become much easier to get then the first one. New rewards for killstreaks are things like predator missiles or AC130 gunships. A few problems plague the multiplayer though. Grenade launchers are ridiculously overpowered, and the perk commando allows people to lunge unrealistic distances to stab people. If you play free for all, you run into nuke-boosters. The last reward for killstreaks is a nuke. The nuke will end the game with a victory for your team, no matter the score. If you get someone to join a free-for-all game, you and the other player can sit in the corner, put down tactical insertions (chosen respawn points) and one person will kill the other repeatedly until he or she unlocks the nuke. These inconsistencies bring the game down. Still, the game is still very fun, and hard to put down. It gets an 8.

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